Frequently Asked Questions

IGCSE French – Foreign Language (0520) – first examination in 2015

Are there changes to the syllabus? In 2015 and thereafter a new IGCSE French
syllabus will be examined. Please read the new
syllabus and specimen papers carefully.
What resources are available to support this The following resources are available on the
syllabus? Cambridge Teacher Support website:
Defined Content Booklet (provides
guidance on the topic areas, vocabulary
and grammar/structures that are tested on
the question papers) – the minimum core
vocabulary is provided alphabetically and
by topic area.
Speaking Test Training Handbook
(provides guidance on the conduct and
assessment of the Speaking test).
Past Papers.
Past Mark Schemes.
Principal Examiner Reports.
Resource List.
Revised Schemes of Work.
Teachers’ notes booklet in French.
Material from training events held for
Speaking and for the new Writing
paper/mark scheme (includes marked
exemplar work for Writing).
An IGCSE French Listening Resource Booklet
is available from the Publications catalogue.
Is specimen material for the new 0520 Specimen papers are available on the main
syllabus available on the website? Cambridge website and teacher support.
In addition, all past papers on the teacher
support website contain material that is valid for
the new examination:
Paper 1: all the material is valid.
Paper 2: all the reading comprehension
exercises are valid; the Section 2 Exercise 2
writing exercise can be used for the new Paper
4 Question 2.
Paper 3: all the material is valid.
Paper 4: the three writing tasks can be used for
the new Paper 4 Question 3.
Are students allowed to take dictionaries No. This is an IGCSE Language examination
into the examination room? and dictionaries are not permitted.
I have heard that some of the candidates You do not need to worry. The level of
who sit this paper are native speakers of performance achieved by a native speaker
French and I am worried that my foreign candidate will be off the top of the scale of what
language speakers are being judged against is expected from candidates taking this
what a first language speaker might achieve. examination.
Paper 1 Listening: how many candidates We would advise a maximum of 30 candidates
may I have in the room for a Listening at one sitting.
examination?
Paper 1 Listening: I should like to listen to No. You should spot-check the listening
the whole Listening examination to check it examination for recording and sound quality on
before I play it to my candidates in the receipt. Then, in order to check the acoustics,
examination. Is this allowed? one of the recordings should be spot-checked
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 in the examination room one working day
before the examination. On neither of the
above occasions may the recording be listened
to in full nor may the recording be removed
from the Centre for checking. After each check
the examination materials must be returned to
your Centre's secure store.
Paper 3 Speaking: must I be accredited by Accreditation from Cambridge is not required in
Cambridge before conducting and order to conduct the IGCSE Foreign Language
assessing the 0520 Speaking test? Speaking test.
However, if you are new to the syllabus, you will
benefit from undergoing distance training using
the Speaking Test Training Handbook
materials, and in the interests of your
candidates we recommend that you do so.
Paper 3 Speaking: what is the period for Please see the timetable for the relevant series
conducting the Speaking examinations? for the period for conducting the Speaking
examinations.
Paper 3 Speaking: When will I receive the The materials for the conduct and assessment
materials for the Speaking examination? of the Speaking examination are sent out in
February for the May/June examination and in
July for the November examination. They are
sent out on the basis of Centres' Estimated
Entries. If your Centre has not made Estimated
Entries, this may result in you not having the
necessary material to carry out the Speaking
examinations at the specified time.
Paper 3 Speaking: What is the deadline for The necessary paperwork and recorded
submitting recorded samples and samples for external moderation must arrive at
paperwork to Cambridge for external Cambridge by the date specified on the
moderation? timetable for the relevant series. However,
once you have completed your Speaking
examinations, please despatch marks and
recordings to Cambridge for moderation as
soon as possible. Do not wait until the end of
the examination period before sending us these
items.
Paper 3 Speaking: how should I record my It is preferable for the Speaking examinations to
candidates and present the sample for be recorded using a suitable digital voice
external moderation by Cambridge? recorder or sound recording program on a
computer. Each candidate’s file must be saved
individually and in .mp3 format. The speaking
tests selected to be part of the sample to send
to Cambridge for external moderation should
then be transferred to a standard format CD.
USB sticks or mini CDs must not be used for
submitting the recorded sample to Cambridge.
Cassettes are still accepted.
Paper 3 Speaking: who marks the Speaking It is the responsibility of the person conducting
examination? the Speaking examinations in the Centre to
mark them. The Speaking examinations must
be marked as they are being conducted.
Examiners should mark the 'live' candidate and
not a recording.
Paper 3 Speaking: how should I go about Ideally, a teacher at the school should conduct
choosing someone to conduct the Speaking the Speaking examinations. Where this is not
tests at my centre? possible and it is necessary to look for
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 someone outside the school, look for someone
who is fluent in the target language, preferably
with teaching experience and with experience
of conducting other oral examinations. The
person appointed must be given the opportunity
to familiarise him/herself with the requirements
of the examination before conducting any 'live'
Speaking tests. Give the examination syllabus
for the relevant year and a copy of the
Teachers’ Notes Booklet and Role Play Cards
from a previous examination session to the
examiner to read before the day of the
examination so that s/he can familiarise
him/herself with the general requirements for
the conduct and assessment of the Speaking
test and there is time to clarify any doubts. On
the day of the examination, arrange for the
examiner to arrive at the Centre 1-2 hours
before conducting and assessing the first
Speaking test, in order that s/he can prepare
the role play situations and read through the
instructions contained in the Teachers' Notes
Booklet for the live session. It is crucial that the
use of an external Examiner does not
compromise the security of the Speaking
examination. For further advice, email
[email protected]
Paper 3 Speaking: what happens to my When your recorded sample and paperwork
(Centre's) Speaking marks when they arrive arrive at Cambridge, they are forwarded to one
at Cambridge? of our Moderators. The Moderator listens to
your sample and looks at the marks that you
have awarded to ensure that they are in line
with the IGCSE standard. If your marks are in
line, then they will not be changed. If they are
not, then an adjustment will be made to bring
them into line, eg the marks will be raised if you
have marked your candidates severely, or
lowered if you have been too generous. A
report on your conduct and assessment of the
Speaking examination will be sent to your
Centre with the results.
Paper 4 Writing – Questions 2 and 3: is there The examiner will mark the number of words
a limit to the number of words the examiner produced by the candidate as long as the
will mark for either of these questions? material is relevant. However, candidates
should be encouraged to keep to the number of
words stated on the question paper, and to
allow themselves time to think about what the
question is asking before they start writing, and
for careful checking once they have finished.
Paper 4 Writing – Question 1: if a candidate Yes. However, advise candidates to attempt 8
only lists 5 items and not 8 and those 5 are items in case they are not right in thinking that
perfect, can they score the full 5 marks? the 5 they have listed are all correct.
Paper 4 Writing – Question 1: do candidates No. However the examples have been chosen
have to attempt the examples given? because they represent linguistically frequent
items of vocabulary
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: will words No.
which have been taken from the
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 rubric/question be automatically discounted
by Examiners when they award marks?
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: can a An incorrect time frame will limit the maximum
candidate still score the marks for mark for communication for a task to 1.
communication if s/he doesn’t answer in the
tense in which the task is phrased?
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: is it still the See 3.2 (g) of specimen mark scheme.
case that repeated use of ‘je vais’ + infinitive ‘je vais’, used appropriately, can score a tick
for future activity can score two ticks each just once. A different dependent infinitive would
time or just one for a different infinitive? score each time (but just once per dependent
infinitive)
‘je vais  aller  au marché et je vais (no tick)
acheter des bananes.’
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: if a verb is No.
conjugated incorrectly will it score a tick for
accuracy?
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: ‘je l’aime’: is Yes. The verb is awarded a tick if it is correct in
that one tick only for the verb and no tick for the context. The correct use of pronouns is
the pronoun? rewarded under ‘other linguistic features’.
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: what about if a No. The first person singular of the present
negative version of the the same sentence is tense of the verb ‘aimer’ can only score a tick
also produced… ‘je ne l’aime pas’. Can the once. The correct use of negatives is rewarded
verb score again? under ‘other linguistic features’.
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: are ticks The mark scheme states ‘Do not tick verbs
awarded for verbs included in letter contained in the ‘letter etiquette’: appropriate
etiquette, eg if the candidate starts the beginnings and endings to letters are
letter, ‘Dear Jane, How are you? I hope you considered for reward under ‘Other linguistic
are well?’ which verbs if any are rewarded? features’. Examples of letter etiquette are:
‘Thank you for your letter which I received last
week. We are all well and enjoying the
beautiful weather. How is your family? In good
health too I hope.’ (unless of course one of the
stipulated tasks is to enquire as to the health of
the addressees family)
Paper 4 Writing – Question 3: if a candidate No. In both cases ‘…est’ is the third person
writes ‘la ville est…’ and later in the same singular of the present tense of the verb ‘être’.
piece of writing writes ‘Jean est…’, it is a
different subject so is the verb rewarded
twice?
Is there any exemplar marked material Material from training events held for Speaking
available for the new Writing paper? and for the new Writing question paper/mark
scheme (includes marked exemplar work for
Writing) can be found on the French pages of
the Cambridge Teacher Support website (under
Teaching Materials).

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